The Utes have already been listed by ESPN as the team with the toughest schedule in the country with five top-25 opponents and another (Michigan) just outside of the top 25. Ten of their 12 opponents played in bowl games last year. The Utes face an unbelievably brutal stretch from Oct. 25 to Nov. 15 when they face four teams ranked in the preseason top 19, with USC (15) at home, followed by Arizona State (19) on the road, Oregon (3) at home and Stanford (11) on the road. The prevailing wisdom is that the Utes need to be 4-2 going into this stretch to have a good chance at finishing with six wins to get bowl eligible.

Mike Sorensen has covered sports at the Deseret News since 1979. He has covered golf his entire career and nearly every sport you can think of, but for the past 15 years his main beats have been college football and more ..